The present disclosure relates to applications of mobile technology and to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Unmanned aerial vehicles have been developed for a number of uses, including surveillance, aerial filming, agricultural applications, and recreation. They are commonly referred to as drones. UAV designs include fuselage/wing assemblies resembling planes as well as helicopter and quadcopter configurations. Sensors such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, altimeters, global positioning system (GPS) modules, cameras and/or payload monitors may be incorporated within UAVs. Gimbals may be used to mount cameras in UAVs. Radio signals generated by a transmitter/receiver, a smartphone, a tablet or other device can be used to control a UAV. UAVs can operate partially or completely autonomously. Functions such as hovering and returning to home can, for example, be provided autonomously. Data obtained by UAVs can be stored onboard using, for example, Secure Digital (SD) cards, or transmitted wirelessly.
Current commercially available UAVs are typically controlled singly and have limited capacity to perform useful work beyond recreational functionality.